NOTE: This chapter references that Lindy-hop/swing dance scene Kurama and Keiko are a part of. We haven't talked about it in a long time, so I thought I'd remind people of that hobby of theirs in this note, LOL.

Also, in the 90s and prior in Japan, girls wore these tiny little booty-short things called "bloomers" during PE. You can see canon-Keiko wearing a pair of them in the early episodes of YYH.

Day 15: "Cartwheels"

Most girls in my grade weren't a fan of gym class—unless we shared that class with the boys, of course.

Typically during gym, we were segregated into groups based on gender. I didn't harbor any particular feelings about this arrangement in elementary or middle school, though in high school I became grateful for it indeed. We were still in the era in which bloomers constituted girls' PE uniforms, which meant by the time boys started noticing things like girl's butts, they were afforded a pretty great view of them. And in turn, high school was around the time most girls started to notice the boys noticing them, eliciting giggles and gossip and a cycle of reciprocal noticing whenever we shared the gym. Meanwhile, I spent such classes hugging the wall, shoulder blades pressed firmly against it whenever possible to shield my backside from view. In this life and in my last alike, I was not a fan of being ogled, and I refused to let myself be an easy target. Not that I was so vain as to think anyone would ogle me, but…

As is likely obvious, I was too preoccupied by the whole sordid affair to notice if anyone actually ogled Keiko's butt, which is probably a blessing.

Anyway. Shortly after the start of the spring term, my PE group shuffled into the courtyard outside the gym in our uniforms (dreadful bloomers and all) to find the boys in the other grades standing around in groups, too, chatting to each other as we waited for the teachers to open the gymnasium doors. Immediately the girls started giggling behind their hands while I beelined for the nearest wall to lean against. Junko followed, looking amused as hell as I resigned myself to another embarrassing PE class… but when the doors to the gym finally opened, the entire mood turned upon its head.

You see, the interior of the gym was filled with pommel horses. Balance beams. Tumbling mats. A few sets of uneven bars. Everything you need for a gymnastics-themed PE course, the patrons of Meiou High School having outfitted us with the very best.

The shift in the room was palpable. While I thrust a fist into the air (and started smiling "like a lunatic," according to Junko) the rest of the class, boys and girls alike, heaved a sigh and hung their heads. Gymnastics were almost universally hated at this school, likely due to one of our teachers being a hard-ass former gymnast who loved to yell at people when they goofed off, and also likely because gymnastics possessed a stunning potential for embarrassing oneself with a lack of coordination… but me? I absolutely loved it when they let decided to roll out the gymnastics equipment, and I danced to the front of the line at the pommel horse with a spring in my step.

"What're you so happy about?" Junko grumbled as she followed.

"Who me?" I rocked back and forth on my heels, still grinning. "Oh, nothing. I just love gymnastics day, that's all!"

"Who actually likes gymnastics day, though?" said Junko.

The answer was me, obviously. I was first in line to do tumbling passes and leaps over the girls' appointed pommel horse. The groups of girls and boys had their own separate pieces of equipment paired up two by two, and we were told to form lines behind them to wait our turns at each station, completing each exercise before cycling back around to the first exercise again. Unlike my dour-faced classmates, I spent my time in line impatiently hopping from foot to foot, eager to take my turns. Pretty sure a few people openly laughed at the sight, but I ignored them. I was just happy to have a blast on the bars and wobble my merry way across the balance beam without a care in the world.

After finishing up my first pass through the various pieces of equipment, I found myself at the back of the line behind the tumbling mats. Tumbling was my favorite part of gymnastic day, so as I watched the coaches instruct one of my less athletic classmates through how to do a round-off, I stood there and openly grinned.

Which is probably why Kurama, when he appeared beside me at the back of the boys' adjacent line, felt compelled to murmur: "You certainly look happy today, Kei."

I looked at him askance, trying to squash my smile (and failing miserably, I'm sure). We stood far enough back from the next person in line that no one could hear us over the teachers' whistles and shouted instructions, and people were far too busy gawking at everyone else to notice when I tipped him a sly wink.

"Happy? Me?" I said, rocking up onto my toes and back down again. "Why would you think that?"

"The fact that you're smiling may have given me a hint." He made a subtle nod forward, to the girl ahead of me in line who stood with shoulders slumped, grimace hanging heavy upon her mouth. "That and you approach this with remarkably more joy than your peers."

My cheeks colored at once. "I'm a goober, I know."

But Kurama just smiled. "I was going to say it's refreshing, actually." He decided to show mercy and not comment on the brilliant hue of my ears, simply eyeing me instead with curiosity. "Is there a reason you're so taken with today's activities?"

I shrugged. "We may be older than dirt, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun sometimes." A moment's hesitation preceded what I admitted next. "Also, I couldn't so much as turn a cartwheel back when I was… y'know." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Tex."

Kurama looked mildly surprised. "Really?" he said. "I wouldn't have guessed."

I hummed a confirmation. "Clumsy as newborn giraffe in high heels, my old self. Couldn't do cartwheels, never learned to ice skate, couldn't so much as stand in roller blades. Heck, I could barely even ride a bike. Makes all of this—" I gestured vaguely at the gym "—sort of novel." Pinning Kurama with a glare, I grumbled, "Don't you dare tell Yusuke about any of that, though. He'd never let me live it down."

Kurama's eyes glittered. "Your secret is safe with me… so long as you accompany me to a Lindy meetup again soon, that is."

"Lindy?" I repeated, caught off guard. "Wow. It's been a minute. What's got you in the mood?"

Kurama shrugged—and then his green eyes sparkled with the slyest of subtle glints. "We may be older than dirt," he said, "but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun sometimes."

For a second I just stared at him—and then I threw back my head and laughed.

Things I have never actually learned to do in this lifetime: gymnastics of ANY kind, roller-skating/blading, ice skating, diving off a diving board, braiding hair, putting on makeup, and similar. I can do none of it even a little bit and despite many, MANY attempts to learn. Swear to god I had/have dyspraxia that never got diagnosed; had to take remedial classes to learn to skip and to tie my shoes as a little kid! Being at all athletic is an utterly foreign concept to me, especially after I shattered my damn elbow. Living as Keiko would be quite the novel experience, that's for sure.

THIS PROMPT WAS SO LITERAL/WEIRD? The response above was all I could think to write about… that and the fact that Keiko in her bloomers in YYH gave me massive secondhand embarrassment when I was first researching the character for this fanfic. "I'd have to wear THOSE?" I shrieked at my TV. I was not a fan; I've never so much as worn a bikini in real life, so bloomers are not my style in any shape whatsoever. Bloomers appear in a ton of 90s anime and I am SO GLAD I never had to wear them. They've fallen out of fashion today, or so I've heard, which I'm sure many young people feel happy about.

Big thanks to everyone who came out to support chapter 14 (and also 13, which came out at the same time). You da best: Kaiya Azure, cestlavie, tammywammy9, C S Stars, brawltogethernow, xenocanaan, ladyofchaos Rubber and Gum and guests!